'Scared for my life': Eyewitness testifies in Norwich murder trial

An eyewitness in the 2006 shooting of 19-year-old Sean Hill testified Tuesday that he watched Bruce “Nephew” Gathers “tussle” with Hill, heard a gunshot and saw Gathers flee the scene.

GREG SMITH

An eyewitness in the 2006 shooting of 19-year-old Sean Hill testified Tuesday that he watched Bruce “Nephew” Gathers “tussle” with Hill, heard a gunshot and saw Gathers flee the scene.

An emotional Justin Smith, 35, one of the state’s key witnesses in the murder case against Gathers, said Gathers and Gregory L. “Biscuit” Smith robbed him moments earlier and were chasing Justin Smith from a Boswell Avenue apartment building when the shooting occurred. It was the night of June 2, 2006, and Smith said he watched from a vantage point at the corner of Boswell Avenue and Lake Street as Gathers and Hill wrestled.

Smith said he reached for something to grab and defend his friend, but by the time he found a piece of wood, a gunshot had already broken the silence.

“I seen a flash of light,” Smith testified. “I seen Sean slumped over. Mr. Gathers ran up Lake Street and across Boswell Avenue.”

Investigators have speculated that Hill, who was waiting for Smith in a parking lot outside with Chandra Jackson, was mistaken for Smith.

State prosecutor Stephen Carney asked Smith why, when initially questioned by police, he told only part of the story and never admitted being a witness to the shooting.

“I was scared — scared for my life,” Smith said.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Michael Fitzpatrick attacked Smith’s credibility. Smith is now in prison for an alleged parole violation and has several past felony convictions.

Fitzpatrick asked if Smith’s “performance in this case” will help him avoid a lengthy prison term in his pending case. Smith said he was never promised leniency.

“You’re here today because you’re a good citizen?” Fitzpatrick asked. “You cried for your friend today. Were those real tears?”

Fitzpatrick asked Smith whether he may have mistaken Gathers for his co-defendant, Gregory Smith. Both men were convicted and sent to prison for robbing Justin Smith and both face the charge of murder in Hill’s death.

Justin Smith said he sold a rock of cocaine to someone in the Boswell Avenue building and was confronted in a hallway by Gathers and Gregory Smith, who demanded “working money.” They chased him outside the building.